What is life if there is not laughter?
Welcome to the lighter side of flyfishing! We welcome your stories here!

May 19th, 2003

Doing it the American Way
Sent in By Al Campbell

An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican
village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the
boat were several large yellowfin tuna.

The American complimented the fisherman on the quality of his fish and
asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, "Only a little while."

The American then asked why didn't he stay out longer and catch more
fish?

The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs.

The American then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your
time?"

The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my
children, take siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each
evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full
and busy life, senor."

The American scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and can help you. You should
spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With
the profits from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually
you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling to a
middleman, you would sell directly to a processor, eventually opening
your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and
distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village
and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles, and eventually New York City
where you will run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But senor, how long will this all take?"

To which the American replied, "Fifteen to twenty years."

"But what then, senor?" asked the fisherman.

The American laughed and said, "That's the best part. When the time is
right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the
public and become very rich - you would make millions."

"Millions, senor? And then what?" the fisherman asked.

The American said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal
fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with
your kids, take siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the
evenings where you could sip wine and play guitar with your amigos."